ParkW CC-1/FP-CS 900315March 15, 1990
Honorable Mark Wolfe and City Council
City of Coppell
255 Parkway
Coppell, Texas 75019
Re: Park West Commerce Center
Dear Mayor Wolfe and City Council:
Prentiss Properties ("Prentiss") has submitted an application
for approval of a final plat for a 328 acre development known as
the Park West Commerce Center. Earlier this year we obtained
approval of the preliminary plat and filed the final plat for
review and approval by the City.
During the review of the final plat we were informed that the
City's normal platting procedure would require that all of the
streets and utilities for the entire 328 acre industrial park be
installed immediately after the final plat is approved. While
this approach is workable for a residential subdivision in which
lots are identified on the plat and sold to developers, it is
not workable for a large scale commercial development in which
lots have not yet been defined and which will take 5 to 10 years
to fully develop.
We were advised that a way to avoid installing more
infrastructure than is needed for our initial building site is
to simply plat one site at a time. In this approach the City
would have construction plans for only the infrastructure
required to support the site being platted. We would also
furnish some conceptual utility masterplan information so that
the City Staff could be reasonably certain that the plans they
are reviewing would work within the overall context of the park.
We do not believe that this "piecemeal" approach is desirable
for either the City or us. We want the City to have a complete
set of plans for the entire park and we want to resolve all
issues relative to the park, including street alignments with a
plat on the entire 328 acres.
PARK ~,;EST MARKETING CENTER
PRENT1SS PROPERTIES LIMITED. INC. 1509 LBJ FREEWAY DALLAS. TEXAS 75234 214 484-3000
We believe that a third option to plat approval exists. I would
note that this is the approach used by many cities and which we
have used in Farmers Branch and Irving with similar large scale
commercial developments. This approach allows us to complete
the construction documents for the entire park and submit them
to the City for approval. The City is thus assured that a
coordinated infrastructure plan exists for the park.
Each time we develop a new site we are required to replat a
section of the park in order to establish a legal building lot.
At the time of replat we would identify the portion of the
overall site infrastructure that is necessary to be constructed
for the new development site. City agreement on how much
infrastructure is needed would be necessary for plat approval.
This "phased construction" approach is vastly superior to the
"piecemeal" approach to platting. The specifics of this
approach are detailed below:
Construction Plans: Construction plans for the
infrastructure of the entire 328 acre development will be
provided within ninety (90) days of approval of the final
plat by City Council. Providing drawings for the entire
development assures the City that the infrastructure will
be constructed in accordance with a master plan.
Construction of Infrastructure: Utilities and roadways
will be constructed when needed to support development of
a new lot. The City has the assurance that such
improvements will be provided by being afforded three
subsequent approval processes prior to occupancy of each
building. First, in order to obtain a building permit, a
building site must be established in accordance with a
plat. Second, prior to construction, the builder must
obtain a building permit. Third, before the structure is
occupied, a certificate of occupancy must be obtained.
During the replatting phase, the infrastructure needs will
be assessed. Obtaining a building permit will trigger the
construction of any additional infrastructure necessary.
Finally, the additional infrastructure will need to be
fully installed prior to the certificate of occupancy
unless otherwise approved by the City Engineer.
Construction Permit Fees: The City currently requires
that 1/2 of the inspection fees for infrastructure
construction be paid at the time of plat approval. This
presupposes that the infrastructure work will proceed and
require inspection. We are proposing to pay the
inspection fees for the portion of infrastructure that
will be built at the time of each replat.
Southwestern Drive: Our traffic engineer has represented
that Southwestern Drive currently handles approximately
2,000 trips per day and that the development of our
property along Southwestern Drive will only generate 4,000
trips per day. Our traffic generation does not warrant an
improvement beyond two lanes. We have however, agreed to
construct a four lane divided thoroughfare to accommodate
the City's traffic. (We have dedicated right-of-way for
an ultimate six lane street in accordance with the City
Thoroughfare Plan.) According to the engineer, the State
Department of Public Highways and Transportation does not
require consideration of a four lane roadway until trips
exceed 8,000 trips per day. In order to justify the
expenditure of our money for oversizing Southwestern
Drive, we propose to construct Southwestern Drive at such
time that traffic on Southwestern Drive exceeds 8,000
trips per day as agreed by the City Engineer and Prentiss'
engineer. Such a schedule will avoid the unnecessary
expenditure of funds without the nexus required between
the development of property fronting on the roadway and
the need for improvements.
Prentiss concurs that it will be responsible for infrastructure
necessary to service its development. We are prepared to fully
live up to our obligations concerning these improvements.
However, at this time we are asking the City to provide a
reasonable schedule for the construction of improvements. Such
a schedule will enable us to develop in the City of Coppell a
successful industrial development associated with the Prentiss
name. We realize that we could have avoided the infrastructure
requirements now by bringing forward small plats on a
"piecemeal" basis. But this is not the Prentiss method of
development nor is it the proper means of development for
Coppell. We have provided a means of master planning a large
industrial tract in the City with a reasonable development
schedule that enables the flexibility to market the property and
to adjust to market demands while assuring that the development
meets the City construction standards.
We respectfully request
infrastructure construction
letter.
approval of the final plat and
phasing program as outlined in this
Very truly yours,
Michael R. Tucker
Vice President
xc:
Gary Sieb
Kirk R. Williams, P.C.
William S. Dahlstrom, Esq.
Paisley Boney